Thanks from the Rotary Club
To the editor,
The Sanibel-Captiva Rotary Club wants to thank everyone who attended our amazing 28th Annual Arts & Crafts Fair this past weekend. The weather conditions were perfect and attendance numbers were slightly ahead of last year. This fair has been noted as one of the top three Arts and Crafts Fairs in Southwest Florida and for having an incredible array of fabulous art and crafts available for sale.
Rotary thanks Fair Gold sponsor Congress Jewelers; Silver Sponsors NBC-2 and Sunny 106 ; Bronze Sponsors Sanibel Captiva Community Bank and John Grey Painting. The would also like to thank the advertisers in this year’s Fair Directory Tab and for the continued support of the Sanibel and Captiva business community, our local newspapers and the City of Sanibel.
A huge thank you goes to Fair Chair Robert Monk. Robert spent many hours, days and months nurturing this fundraising event along and the end-result was outstanding. Robert, all your hard work paid off. The process of bringing in superior artists and artisans is the key to a successful Arts & Crafts show. So with that said, we thank Tony Gropp and his committee for their diligent work and the amazing selection of artists and craftsmen at this year’s fair. Can you imagine the logistics involved in plotting out the Community Association’s grounds and building and the Sanibel Community Park to accommodate over 100 arts and crafts booths, food booths, silent auction/ Chinese raffle tables, Rotary project display areas and sales, parking for artists and craftsmen and workers, and physically facilitating anything to make this fundraising event run smoothly? What is amazing, is Rotarian Dick Waterhouse, chair of Fair logistics, does all that with a calm manner and fantastic attitude. Thank you, Dick.
Thank You, John Grey (Advertising Sales), Chet Sadler (Marketing) and Charlie Emerson (Design and production of directory tab). Their work provides a substantial base for bringing in financial support and revenue for this fundraiser. Thank you to the parking and traffic crew headed by Dan Cohn. The Rotary Sunrise Club of Fort Myers and San-Cap Rotarians assisted in this effort. Thank you to Joel Ospa, who took on the responsibility of recruiting and assigning volunteers working the fair. Without our volunteers (Sanibel-Captiva Rotary members, Snowbird Rotarians, Rotary Sunrise Club, Sanibel Boy Scouts, and Sanibel School Volunteers), we would not be able to produce such a fabulous fair. Thank you to Bunny Ospa, Rotary shirt and hat sales Chair (this is an extremely popular booth at the fair).
Thank you to artist Ikki Mtsumoto for his beautiful designs. Thank you Warren Teigen and Jack Luizer for soliciting items for the silent and Chinese auctions. Great job! Thank you to the set-up and break-down crew. Thank you each and every Rotarian working the fair — you are an amazing group of individuals and it is was pleasure working with you.
Last but not least, thank you Alex Werner, Rotary Club President 2011-12, for picking an amazing team to work on the 28th Rotary of Sanibel-Captiva Arts & Crafts Fair and then letting them do their job. Proceeds of this fair will allow the Rotary Club of Sanibel-Captiva to continue to give organizational and financial support to a plethora of local, national and global projects fitting the Rotary motto and objectives.
Shirley Jewell
Sanibel